Spain and Portugal are on track to smash existing weather records this weekend as temperatures rock into the high 40s, as the heatwave across Europe continues

People cool off at the beach during the heatwave in the southeastern coastal town of Benidorm

Heatwaves have become common in Italy, and between 2005 and 2016 some 23,880 people died in 23 Italian cities of heat-related problems.

Searing heat has devastated wheat fields across northern Europe while a combination of dry conditions and extreme rain in the Black Sea have hit output estimates.

Wildfires in Greece last month killed 91 people in a sharp reminder of the constant threat of deadly fires in southern Europe during the summer.

In the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, police warned people not to touch the grenades, mines and other weapons that have emerged from the mud on the banks of the River Elbe since the heatwave caused a drastic reduction in the water level.